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Week in science, big, bulging bug eyes edition

Friendly rats, scary predators, head-butting bees, and news on planets near …

Week in science, big, bulging bug eyes edition

This week's science news came from a broad range of topics, with news of a newly confirmed planet 600 light years away to a better understanding of the climate here on Earth. But biology seemed to rule the roost: rats showed empathy, bees made collective decisions, and a 500 million year old fossil revealed more about the largest predator of its era.

It's got 16,000 eyes on you—the vision of a Cambrian-era predator: Spectacular fossils show that a strange beast from the Cambrian had two large compound eyes, each with about 16,000 lenses.

Bees reach consensus by headbutting dissenters: Swarms of bees seeking new nests make decisions using a system that's very similar to the neurons in the human brain, with a key difference: instead of sending chemical inhibitors to their peers, the bees give them a good headbutting.

Rats show empathy, will come to the aid of other rats: Rats will deliberately free trapped companions and may even share food with them, indicating that these rodents are capable of empathy.

Sun-like star hosts Kepler's first confirmed habitable zone planet: NSA's Kepler probe keeps spotting planet candidates, and has its first candidate inside the habitable zone confirmed.

Researchers short-circuit the immune system to block HIV: Researchers give mice lifelong protection against HIV, without the need for a vaccine.

New approach to determining human impact on climate gives same answer: A new study tries to balance the books on the Earth's energy budget, and finds that greenhouse gasses and aerosols have large effects, but largely offset each other.

NBA players wrong about "hot hands" from three-point land: A statistical analysis of NBA and WNBA performance shows that basketball players don't get a hot shooting hand, but act like they think they do.

More evidence found for quantum physics in photosynthesis: Physicists have found the strongest evidence yet of quantum effects fueling photosynthesis. Multiple experiments in recent years have suggested as much, but it has been hard to be sure. Quantum effects were clearly present in the light-harvesting antenna proteins of plant cells, but their precise role in processing incoming photons remained unclear.

Transparent crab shell holds the secret to bendable screens: Researchers turn a crab shell transparent, an advance that could lead to thin, bendable displays.

Listing image by Photograph by Thomas Shahan

Channel Ars Technica